Book: Boyhood
Author: J.M. Coetzee
Reviewer’s Instagram: graceannamurray
Photo Credit: graceannamurray
Original Book Review
In ‘Boyhood’, we follow a young boy in 1950s South Africa, as he interrogates the strange world around him. This is a novel where very little happens on the surface, plot-wise — bar moving schools, and villages — and instead, everything is in the minutiae. From accidentally becoming a Catholic when he’s asked if he’s religious in class, to witnessing his mother’s aimlessness, ‘Boyhood’ charters social tensions through Coetzee’s genius writing style.
One of the most astonishing things I have read, is ‘Boyhood’’s first chapter, where his mother tries to learn how to ride a bike. Women in the village, as the boy points out, do not cycle— and he thinks trying to learn, would be absurd. Without anyone to teach her, his mother goes alone, and Coetzee describes the clattering of the bicycle down the street, and the laughter of the entire family, in such a visceral way, I had to pause. Even through the boy’s narrow gaze, we get the sense of the frustrations of his mother, how unpleasant, and alone, living in the household must feel.
It’s an absolute masterclass in storytelling. Perfect for fans of David Szalay’s ‘Flesh’ (this too, is in third person, present tense, and leaves all the interpretation to the reader), and Coetzee’s other novel, ‘Disgrace.
